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Research paper example essay prompt: Computer Crime - 867 words

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Computer Crime Computer crime is a very broad
term. It could mean anything from a total invasion
by a hacker into the federal government or just
the simple fact of one person letting another
borrow a copy of his favorite flying game.
Computers are defined in the dictionary as a
machine that computes (WBD vol. 23). But to most
people it is a machine that's helps us do a task
easier. As we move into the 21th century though
one thing is for sure, the computer will help
crime become more prevalent.

Hackers are probably
one of the more common threats out there. These
are the people who use modems and telephone lines
to enter your computer. A teenager sits across the
table yelling, "I want this and this and this.".
This is not a kid talking to his parents; it is a
hacker talking to the business he just hacked
into. Whenever you think about it, the idea of a
teenager being able to make a big software firm
grovel like that is pretty amazing. This is a site
often seen though.

When a company is hacked into
it often hires its predators as protectors (Glass
11). If companies do not come forward to claim
that they have been infiltrated how are these
hackers supposed to be prosecuted. This is a
serious issue being faced today by the federal
government. In an article by Stephen Glass he
quotes a radio advertisement by the Nevada
law-enforcement officials. They were so desperate
the advertisement ran "Would you hire a shoplifter
to watch the cash register? Please don't deal with
hackers." The state took the airwaves after a boy
had broken into a department stores computer
system and made it credit $500 a day to his Visa
card.

The boy had racked up $32,000 before being
caught. But, the store did not prosecute. Instead
they let the boy keep his money, all in exchange
for showing them how to improve their security
(Glass 11). Also cases have been reported of
government agencies being hacked into. If the
government is worried about a hackers' invasion
with their security system what is the American
people to do.

Hackers and computer criminals also
use computer viruses to either do some odd job or
just reek havoc. "Virus" is the one
computer-security buzzword that has made its way
into the mainstream. Most people do not know
exactly what one is, but that it's bad. These
viruses are simply a piece of software written
with one key distinction: it has the desire to
create clones of itself. There are many types of
viruses.

The Trojan Horse viruses are viruses that
make you think they re doing one thing while they
actually do something totally different. Time Bomb
viruses go off when a certain conditions of a date
is met. Logic Bomb viruses start their effects
when the user types in a certain word or words
(Schwartau 95-110). Viruses are something that we
should all worry about. There are certain programs
out there that can detect and eliminate viruses.
Another form of crime happening on the Internet is
the posting of obscene and explicit pictures.

This
issue was first really brought to the publics'
attention in a case involving a couple from
Milpitas, California, who were indicted and
convicted in Memphis, Tennessee. Robert and
Carleen Thomas, a couple married for 21 years with
two sons, ran the Amateur Action Bulletin Board
Service. They distributed GIF images that were
explicit and, in some cases, repellent, violent,
and grotesque. The reason these two are in jail is
because obscenity laws can come from the local
community standards. What is not illegal in
California could be illegal in Tennessee for
example.

This rule promulgated by the Supreme
Court in 1973 made minimal sense then. Though in
the Thomas case, it permits Memphis, Tennessee, to
establish itself as the arbiter of all cyberspace
(Mangan, Wallace 1-40). The most common form of
computer crime that everyday people commit is
computer piracy. In the Illustrated Computer
Dictionary for Dummies piracy is defined as
"Copying software without the permission of the
writer or publisher, and, if you're really bad,
distributing it as well" (274). An interview I did
reported that out of 21 people I interviewed 20 of
them admitted to copying a program they did not
buy or "borrowing" a program (Penland).

Most of
them did not view it as being wrong. They thought
that if they bought it they could do what they
wanted with it. Many companies have tried to stop
this act of crime by copy protection and having to
use a registration code (274). With million of
Americans buying software each year there is no
way to stop even one percent from giving away a
copy of their favorite game. That computer crime
is on the rise is perhaps a natural result of
introducing the computer into American society.
Some argue that computer crime is nothing more
than traditional crime committed with new,
high-tech devices.

Others contend that computer
crime cannot be analogized to traditional crime.
They state that it requires both new law
enforcement techniques and new laws to address
abuses of emerging technologies (USDOJ). "The
Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section;
United States Department of Justice." 1996.